A CARE provider is ready to start shouting about the apprenticeships it offers for people who want to start a career or learn something new.

Brunel Care, based in Bristol, covers the whole of Somerset, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire and offers a wide range of skills from care to catering.

The company will be among those attending the Skills and Apprenticeships Show, organised by the County Gazette in association with the Somerset Chamber of Commerce, from11am to 7pm on March 22 at Taunton Rugby Club.

Jeremy Weare, community recruitment coordinator, said: “We’ve always offered apprenticeships but with the levy coming in, it is time to start shouting about them.

“Apprenticeships are fantastic and advantageous for both the company and for the people using the apprenticeships.

“Apprenticeships today give you a skill, how you wish to apply them is down to you. You can learn so much universal and sometimes transferable skills, it can give you a skill you can take all over the world or use to build a decent career - the opportunity is there.”

The company offers courses based on what the business needs at the time. The apprenticeships range from care, catering, admin, housekeeping and electrical, as well as human resources and are available to people of all ages.

Brunel Care will be bringing hands-on equipment to the skills show, to help potential students understand what it is like for people in need of care.

Representatives from the company will be bringing spectacles which show what it is like to see as someone who has suffered a stroke or has tunnel vision.

Mr Weare, who himself went through an apprenticeship programme, said: “At their age, 16-year-olds aren’t thinking long-term. But once they have those skills, they can be transferable. We will be going to the show to engage with the younger folks. We relate real-life situations to help them understand what is involved in being a carer.

“You’re never ‘just’ a carer, they don’t realise how much they do, but they do so much on a day-to-day basis.”